Closure for protective suit



Dec. 11, 1956 D. POMPA ET AL 2,773,263

CLOSURE FOR PROTECTIVE SUIT Filed Feb. 21, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 N. I qI I ifiGEfiTORs Dominic Ponzpa ATTORNEY Dec. 11, 1956 D. POMPA EIALCLOSURE FOR PROTECTIVE SUIT 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 21', 1955 l N VENTORS Louis C CLOSURE FGR PRUTEQTKVE SUIT Dominic Pompa and LouisCugini, Philadelphia, Pa, assigners to the United Stat-es of America asrepresented by the Secretary of the Army Application February 21, E 55,Serial No. 489,812

31 tClaiin. (Ci. 2- 96) (Granted under Title 35, U. S. Code {1952), see.266) The invention described herein, if patented, may be manufacturedand used by or for the Government for governmental purposes, without thepayment to us of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to closures for protective suits or covers suchas raincoats, flame-proof coats, etc, and has for its primary object toprovide a simplified and readily operable closure for supplementing theconventional closure so as to prevent the leakage of water, acid or thelike to the interior of the garment.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art from the following description taken in connectionwith the accompanying drawing, in which,

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of the protective garment with thefront closure in open position, certain of the snap fasteners beingshown in dotted outline;

Figure la is a fragmentary view of the left side of the front openingshowing the relative arrangement of the two staggered series of snapfasteners;

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure l but showing the front closure inclosed position, and indicating the snap fasteners in dotted outline;

Figure 3 is a horizontal sectional view through a portion of thegarment, with the closure in open position;

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 showing the primary closureportion in closed position;

Figure 5 is a section taken on line 5-5 of Figure 2;

Figure 6 is a sectional view taken on line 6-6 of Figure 2; and,

Figure 7 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken on line 77 ofFigure 6.

Referring to the drawings more specifically, the garment, which is aone-piece protective suit formed of a material resistant to acid, fuel,etc., is indicated by the numeral 1 and is provided with leg portions 2,arm portions 3 and a diagonally downward-extending front openingindicated generally by the letter A. This opening is made by the frontpanels 4 and 5, the free edges of which may be secured in closedposition by means of the conventional zipper or slide fastener 16.

While this type of fastener has excellent qualities for many purposes itis not liquid or gas'proof and consequently it is necessary that thisclosure fastener be supplemented in order to render the garmenteffective for the purposes desired, namely, for use by handlers of acid,fuel, etc. Accordingly, there are provided in the present illustrationan elongated strip '7 having one longitudinal edge secured to theoutside of the panel section 4 adjacent the edge thereof, and anotherelongated strip 8 having an edge secured to the outer face of the frontpanel 5 adjacent the free edge thereof. These strips as well as thezipper fasteners 6 may be secured in operative position by lines ofstitching of conventional form as indicated on the drawings.

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The supplemental closure for the front opening A on the garment, whichis to seal off the closed zipper 6 against the passage of acid or otherliquids or gases, is formed by folding over the free edge of the strip7, which is substantially wider than the strip 8, and securing thefolded over portion in position by a series of snap fasteners consistingof a series of sockets iii and complementary heads ll. as clearlyindicated in Figures 4 and 5. The heads iii are suitably sealed againstthe of liquids by means of patches 12 which may be of any suitablemoisture-proof material stitched to the body of the strip 8. This seriesof snap fasteners iii-13 extends throughout the length of the strips 7and 5 and, as mentioned above, serves to hold the free edge of the widerstrip '7 in folded position about the narrower strip 3.

interposed or staggered along the line of the series of snap fastenersE.(?1ll is a second series of snap fasteners comprising sockets andheads M as clearly indicated in Figures 1, in and 7. The heads lid inthis series of fasteners also are sealed off against the passage ofliquid or gases by of patches 15 similar to the patches referred to inconnection with the first series of snap fasteners. These fasteners 13,1d serve to secure the folded portion of the strips 78 against the frontpanel 5 of the garment so as to prevent this folded portion fromswinging outwardly with a consequent possibility of the first series offasteners ll-11l becoming inadvertently disengaged and rendering thesupplemental closure ineffective in sealing the zipper closure 6 againstthe passage of liquids and gases.

While the primary closure is illustrated as a zipper or slide typefastener in the present disclosure it will be readily apparent that theinvention is equally well adapted to a protective garment in which theprimary closure consists of a series of separable fasteners such as snapfasteners, or even the conventional button and buttonhole type offastener.

In accordance with the patent statutes We have described herein thepreferred form of the invention, but since various minor changes may bemade in structural details, it is intended that all such changes beincluded within the scope of the appended claim.

We claim:

In a supplemental closure for the front opening in a garment havingzipper means for closing said opening, a flexible strip having onelongitudinal edge secured to the garment at one side of the opening andanother flexible strip having one longitudinal edge secured to thegarment at the opposite side of the opening and both of said stripsbeing substantially coextensive with the length of the opening, one ofsaid strips being of sufiicient width to have its free edge folded overthe free edge of the other strip when the garment is in closed position,complementary fasteners on the free edges of the strips to secure themin closed condition, and complementary faseners on the body of thegarment and on the exterior of the folded edge for detachably securingthe supplemental closure against the body of the garment, saidlast-named fasteners being staggered with respect to the first-namedfasteners.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

